


Sacrifices

by Ilmare_Ilse



Category: Hawaii Five-0 - Fandom
Genre: Comfort/Friendship, Gen, Hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-18
Updated: 2011-06-04
Packaged: 2017-10-20 03:31:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/208299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilmare_Ilse/pseuds/Ilmare_Ilse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny gave up everything to help his team. Will they be able to return the favor? Sort of a fix it for the season finale, Some spoilers for it</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I'm lousy at disclaimers, but none of this is mine. I'm just playing with it.
> 
> This story is not betaed. All the mistakes are mine, but I appreciate constructive criticism.

Danny entered the Governor's office with a purposeful tread. The newly appointed Governor looked up from his work to give him a rather cold welcome. "Mr. Williams, I don't have too much time, so if we could make this meeting as short as possible…"

Danny had to stop himself from correcting the Governor. It's been almost two weeks since he stopped being a detective. He missed his badge, but he had accepted the idea that ever since the disbandment of the Five-0 taskforce, he was not a detective anymore.

He focused on the business at hand, trying to ignore the scrutiny of Governor Page. Sure, his scraped knuckles, the few fading bruises under his left eye and the split lip would draw some attention, but he had cleaned himself up, even wearing one of those ties Steve hated so much. He had a work to do, so he took out the folder he carried and opened it to get into business.

"Governor, I'm here to request the release of Commander Steven McGarret and detective Kono Kalakaua. I bring evidence that both were framed. Governor Jameson promised us full immunity and means, and my team's actions were made under the cover of that."

He took some photos and what looked like a medical report from his folder. "With respect to the murder of Governor Jameson, while Commander McGarrett broke into Governor's Jameson residence, I have found footage that shows the man known as Wo Fat, breaking into the Governor's residence at the same time. Commander McGarrett was found semi conscious on the Governor's office, lying near her dead body and with the weapon that killed her in his hands. Commander McGarrett had been tased not ten minutes before the first police units arrived at the scene, and the Taser was nowhere to be found. There was no way that he could have shot the Governor in the state he was in."

He took what looked like phone transcripts and placed them in front of the governor. "Furthermore, I can show you phone recordings that prove that Governor Jameson had dealings with Wo Fat and the Yakuza. She received payments and provided information to them. This man is responsible for the death of both of Commander McGarrett's parents, and his relation with the Governor was meant to harm the Commander. They wanted him to fall."

Page looked up at this. "All the more reason for McGarrett to want to murder the Governor…"

Danny shook his head. "He only wanted to clear up the situation! Jameson asked him personally to form this taskforce! Would you believe that she was doing it all to destroy McGarrett?"

The Governor sighed, crossing his arms. "Leave all of this with me." He said, looking at the evidence Danny brought. "I'll see what I can do and let you know as soon as possible."

Danny looked at him pleadingly. "They've been in there long enough. Half of the population wants them dead, and the other half wants them as play toys. You have to get them out…"

The Governor didn't seem moved by Danny's plea. "I'll see what I can do and give you a call. Thank you, Mr. Williams."

Danny nodded and left the office.

* * *

The following morning found Danny standing next to his beloved Camaro, waiting for a familiar figure to cross the security gates of Halawa Correctional Facility.

As soon as Steve came out, he noticed the figure of his Partner. He took a moment to study Danny's bruised and exhausted face and his slightly slumped posture. "Did you take plates of the truck that ran you over?…" He asked, smiling.

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Did I take the plates!..." He shook his head, "This coming from a man whose face resembles an eggplant? Did they make you kiss the walls?"

Steve grinned. "They only tried once. I think I brought home the point that I didn't particularly enjoy it, so they dropped the subject."

Danny crossed his arms. "I'm sure it was a very interesting conversation…"

Steve grinned, extending his hand and drawing Danny into a hug. "I've no idea how you did it, but thank you, brah."

Danny hugged Steve back, taking comfort from the close contact. "I'll have you know that a Haole detective like me can still pull some tricks from under the sleeve. If you pay attention you may even learn something…" He patted Steve's back.

They drew apart, moving towards the car. Steve stood by the driver's door. "Do you have the keys?"

Danny spluttered. "How come I bust you out of jail, I go to the trouble to come pick you up and you still want me to let you drive my car?"

Steve shrugged. "It's a very nice car! Come on, I've spent more than two weeks in lockup, the least I deserve is to drive a nice car…"

Danny rolled his eyes, passing his keys to Steve. "Control freak!"

As they entered the car, Danny's phone started ringing. He took it out and looking at the screen, passed it to Steve. "It's for you."

Steve looked at the screen, not recognizing the number, he replied. "McGarret."

He could hear a lot of noise on the other side of the line, many happy voices talking at the same time, and then a familiar one. _"Boss?"_

Steve smiled in pleasure."Kono! Where are you?"

He could sense Kono's smile through the line. _"I just got home! I'm guessing Danny got you out as well?"_

He turned to Danny, noticing his pleased smile. "Yeah. He just picked me up. Are you alright?"

Kono chuckled. _"Now that I'm home I'm great!"_ He could hear some people talking to Kono. _"Listen, Things are a little crazy right now, but maybe we could get together for beers tonight?"_

Steve nodded. "Absolutely! Tonight at my place! See you then…" He disconnected the call, looking at Danny.

Danny was lying back in his seat, looking through the window. Steve had never seen him looking as exhausted and lost as he did now. Attempting to draw him out of it, he asked a question that had been circling his mind since he got arrested. "So, any word on Wo Fat's whereabouts?"

That got Danny's attention; he straightened out, looking at Steve. "The last we saw of him was some footage of a security camera while he was leaving Jameson's property. He hasn't shown his face ever since. My best guess is that he left the island. He will lay low until he gets the chance to strike again."

Steve took his eyes off the road to look at Danny. "We'll be ready for him."

Danny nodded. "Yes we will."

* * *

They finally arrived at Steve's house. He parked the car and looked at Danny, not used to the silence of his partner. "Listen, I know you probably want to go home, but would you like to hang at my place for a while? I mean, we could order some pizzas, have a couple of beers…" Strangely enough, he was a bit nervous that Danny wouldn't want to stay. "I mean, you still have to tell me how you managed to get us out…"

Danny smiled, opening his door. "I'd love to hang out, Steve."

They entered Steve's house. It was total chaos. Upturned furniture, papers thrown haphazardly on the floor, the kitchen appliances thrown this way and that.

Danny passed a hand through his head. "Damn man, I'm sorry. I was supposed to clean this up before you got here, but I didn't think it would work so quickly, and I had kind of forgotten about it…" He shrugged. "I was in a bit of a hurry…"

Steve turned to him, wearing his aneurism face. "You mean you did this!"

Danny shrugged apologetically. "Well, part of it. I was in a hurry, the HPD was coming, and I needed to find your files before they got their hands on them."

Steve looked confused. "Wait a minute. The DA had a copy of all my files. Couldn't you find them?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "In case you have forgotten, Steven, I'm a detective. Of course I found your files! _Because_ I am a detective, I also know that if I had taken them with me, I would have had half of HPD knocking on my door and dragging my ass into jail for obstruction of justice. I'm sure they would have enjoyed it immensely too. Instead I took copies and left them exactly where you had them stashed."

Steve sighed, relieved. "Of course you did, you are a detective, after all." He looked around at his home. And then back at Danny. "Listen, I don't want to deal with this right now. I'm going to go upstairs, try to find a clean towel and take a shower." He moved to the upturned couch, righting it and clearing away a space for Danny to sit on. "Why don't you pour us a drink, beer or whatever you can find in the mess of my kitchen and when I come back we'll sort this out, alright?" Without waiting for a response, he nodded and turned around in the direction of his room.

* * *

40 minutes later, Steve came back downstairs. He found Danny sitting on his couch. He had cleared out part of the mess; it didn't look like a bomb had exploded anymore.

He took a minute to study his partner. Danny was nursing a longneck, another one on the table waiting for Steve. Back at the car, he couldn't identify the expression on Danny's face, but now that he had a minute to think about it, he was saddened to realize that his partner looked absolutely and totally heartbroken. He took his place next to Danny on the couch, looking at him. "Danny, are you alright?"

Danny looked up from his beer to Steve, surprised by the question, but the minute it registered in his mind, he went back to staring at his bottle. He nodded. "I'm fine."

Steve couldn't believe that Danny thought he would convince him with that answer. All that he knew was that something was very wrong. "Is Gracie ok?"

Danny sniffed, shrugging. "I've no idea. I haven't talked to her in days."

Steve was speechless. "Wha? Well, what about Rachel, did you two have a fight?"

Danny shook his head again, still looking at his bottle. "Nope. In order to have a fight, there would have to be words involved. I haven't seen or talked to her either."

"What the hell happened, Danny?"

Danny shrugged, sniffing again. He was still looking anywhere but to Steve's face. "Well, a couple of weeks ago, Rachel comes over and tells me that she's pregnant. She's having my baby. She says that she's leaving Stan, and that since Hawaii is Stan's home, she and Gracie should go back to Jersey. She booked plane tickets for the three of us; we would meet at the airport after I took care of some business…" He left the bottle on the coffee table, resting his arms on his knees and hanging his head. "I ran into some trouble and I asked her to wait for me in the gate, I said I'd be there…" He shook his head, sadly. "I didn't make it, she left and we haven't talked ever since."

He moved to stand up, but Steve's hand on his shoulder prevented him from doing it. "Danny, did you try calling her?"

Danny looked up, taking a deep breath. "Did I tray calling her? I have called every single day, she won't answer, I've left hundreds of messages, she ignores them! I've sent emails, I've tried to reach her parents, I even asked my mom to talk to her!" He seemed to deflate, hanging his head, his trembling fingers threading though his hair. "It's useless. Nothing I can do… She… They're gone for good…" He covered his eyes with his hands, trying to control his hitching breaths.

Steve sat there, his hand still on Danny's shoulder, trying to provide what comfort he could. Part of the story intrigued him though. "Danny… When did this happen?"

Danny pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath. "What difference does it make!"

Steve shook Danny's shoulder. "Danny, when did this happen?"

Danny flinched, not moving his hand from his face. "It was the day you and Kono got arrested."

Steve reeled back. "Danny! What were you thinking! Why didn't you follow?"

Danny shook Steve's hand from his shoulder and stumbled to his feet. "You stupid son of a bitch! Did you really expect me to leave my team to rot in jail! Did you really believe that I would abandon the closest thing I had to a family in this God forsaken Island! Was I supposed to sit idly while everything… Everyone I cared about was taken from me?" He sunk to the floor, curling into himself. "I'd already lost my wife and kids… I couldn't… couldn't lose you guys too…" He covered his eyes, sobs shaking his frame.

Steve kneeled next to Danny, wrapping him in an embrace, trying to comfort him somehow. "Shit, I'm sorry, brah. I'm so sorry… We'll get them back; I promise you we'll fix this…"

* * *

They stayed like that for close to half an hour, Danny holding on to him for dear life and Steve trying to provide what comfort he could. Once Danny started to calm down, Steve started to notice something that he should have realized hours ago. They had shifted so that Danny rested tiredly on Steve's shoulder. In spite of him starting to calm down, Steve could see the minute tremors shaking Danny's body, his pained breathing, the bandage under his right sleeve, and the fact that he was warmer than he was supposed to be. He shifted, trying to get the man's attention. "Danny, you're too hot."

That surely had an effect. Danny jumped, trying to get a safe distance between himself and Steve. "Whoa, What?... I mean, I'm really flattered, Steve, but… Unfortunately, I don't go that way…" He looked embarrassed, trying not to hurt his friend's feelings.

Steve rolled his eyes, trying to get closer to the man currently scrambling to get away from him. "Don't be an idiot Danny. You're running a fever!"

If possible, Danny tensed even more. "No I'm not!"

Steve tried to reason with his friend. "Listen Danny, you're running a fever, that means that you either caught a flu or something like that, or you managed to injure yourself and took such good care of it, that now you're dealing with a nasty infection. Since I don't see you sneezing or coughing, but you breathe like it pains you to do so, your face looks like a bulldozer ran you over and you've been trying to hide the fact that there's a poorly made bandage on your right arm, I'm willing to bet on option number two!"

Danny moved a little further away from Steve, shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talking about man…"

Steve raised his hand to silence Danny. "Danny, I'm going to give you exactly two minutes to tell me what's wrong with you or I'm going to pick up your skinny ass…"

Danny spluttered. "Skinny ass!"

Steve ignored the interruption. "Yes! Your skinny ass! We leave you alone for two weeks and you manage to drop like 15 pounds! So, you're not eating, you look like you haven't slept a wink either, and you're running a fever… Which leads us here… You, my friend, are going to tell me exactly what's wrong with you or so help me, I'm going to drag you to the hospital by your hair!"

Danny stood up unsteadily, taking a breath in preparation for the blow up that was coming. "Do you really need to ask WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ME?"

Steve stood up as well, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "Danny… I just want to help. I'm worried about you man…"

Danny took a deep breath, closing his eyes. With shaking fingers he started unbuttoning his shirt. Without looking at Steve, he started talking. "In order to get part of the information I needed to get you and Kono out of jail, I ran into a couple of trigger happy fellows. Fortunately for me, I was wearing Kevlar at the time…" He opened his shirt to show two large bruises on his chest. "Fortunately for them, they don't make vests for the arms." He finished removing his shirt to show a flimsy looking bandage and an angry looking through and through on his arm. He stared at it, confused. "Strange, this didn't look as bad this morning." He stumbled on his own two feet, and ended up sitting on the couch.

Steve got up, picked up his keys and moved towards Danny. "Alright, we're going to the hospital."

He moved to help Danny stand, but he shook him off. "Hey! You said that if I told you, you would leave me alone!"

Steve looked confused. "Danny, that wound is infected! You have a fever, and while I'm humbled by your confidence in my abilities, I have no idea how to treat an infection like that…"

Danny seemed to sink further into the cushions, looking paler than he did a minute ago. The look of defeat he sported scared Steve more than anything. "Leave me be, Steve… Maybe… Maybe it's better this way?"

Steve moved quickly to sit next to his partner. "Danny, listen to me… You're the most stubborn mule I've had the pleasure to know. You can't let this defeat you! When I was arrested I was convinced I was screwed! I didn't see any way out, but you didn't give up on us, you're far too stubborn for that, you can't give up now!"

Danny looked at Steve, tears gathering in his eyes. "I'm just so tired Steve…"

Steve gently took one of Danny's hands. "I know, Danny, I know… I can't tell you how sorry I am that you had to deal with all of this shit on your own, but you're not alone anymore, brah. I promise you we'll find a way to make it right… We'll fix this mess somehow, but first you have to let me help you… Please!"

Danny sighed, finally giving up the fight. "Alright, you win. Take me to the hospital, so they can poke and prod me at will."

Just as Steve was helping Danny up from the couch, someone knocked on the door. Since the odds of Danny remaining standing on his own were slim, he helped him back down, going to see who was bugging them at this time of the day. Of all the faces he was expecting, Chin was not one of them. He stood protectively on the door, blocking the view inside. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Chin looked surprised, and a little hurt, but he hid it well. "I just wanted to see how you were doing…"

Steve looked up, trying to control his temper. "How am I doing? You wanna know how am I doing? I just spent two weeks in a prison full of people wanting to kill me! How do you figure I'm doing huh!" He turned around, noticing that Danny was barely hanging in there. "Fuck!" he turned to Chin. "You know what? I don't have the time to deal with this right know! Now get your ass in here and help me get him into the truck…"

Chin moved to take one of Danny's arms. "What happened to him?"

They were carefully moving Danny to Steve's truck. "What happened? He got shot, that's what happened to him, and he didn't have the sense to get a doctor to look at it! Stupid moron!"

Chin looked surprised. "It's not possible! He said everything had gone according to plan!"

Steve stopped moving to stare at Chin. "You knew? Well, of course you knew! You gave him the information, didn't you? Did you by any chance warn him that it was a suicide mission?"

Chin glared at him. "I told him about the risks, I was going to go with him, but he said that he needed me to keep my cover! He wanted me to stay at HPD, checking if we could find anything else!"

Steve shook his head. "Of course he would want to protect you too… Of all the stupid…" He was interrupted by a croak from the man hanging between them. "Hey… 'm still here…"

Steve grinned. "Yeah, yeah, and you'd better still be around by the time we get to the hospital, or you'll hear a piece of my mind, am I clear?"

The soft muttering of "Sir, yes sir!" made both Steve and Chin chuckle.

They finally managed to load Danny into Steve's truck. As he closed the door he looked at Chin. "Listen brah, we need to talk… But…"

Chin nodded. "Don't worry about it, just go… Let me know of any news…"

Steve nodded as he got on the driver seat. "Will do!" and they were gone.

* * *

Danny could hear Steve speaking to him, but he couldn't really make out the words anymore. It was stupid really, he had been feeling off since the day before, but there was stuff to get done, so he hadn't paid much attention to the ache on his arm, or the occasional bout of dizziness that assaulted him. Now everything seemed fuzzy and his head felt full of cotton. He focused on Steve's voice, which had gotten even more frightened in the last few phrases. "Danny? Answer me! Danny?" Someone was shaking him.

"'m still here…" he mumbled, or he thought he did, because Steve sounded more relieved now…

Suddenly it was all too much, his eyes closed on their own and with a softly muttered apology to Steve, he gave up the fight and let himself be taken by the darkness.

* * *

TBC...


	2. Chapter 2

Steve never thought a trip to the hospital could take so long. It seemed like today everyone was cutting him off, driving slowly or making it impossible for him to make it there. It's been a couple of minutes since Danny had muttered something that sounded like "Sorry Steve" and finally passed out, and he was starting to panic.

He never thought that not being able to use the siren and the lights would frustrate him this much, but short of going over the cars stopped in front of him, there was nothing he could do to move faster. The HPD patrol car that suddenly cut off in front of him with sirens and lights blazing felt like a blessing.

Chin's car cut through the traffic and a minute later they were parking outside of the ER, Chin running inside to bring a gurney. The next few minutes were a blur to Steve. Answering the doctors' questions, rolling Danny into the trauma room, and then being told that he couldn't go any further, that they would take Danny away.

He stood there, not sure how this day had started so well and took such a turn in a few hours. He was distracted from his gloomy thoughts by a nurse, asking more questions about Danny, does he have any allergies, does he have any family that they could contact. They explain that he will have to speak to the police, for the nature of the injury, and to sit in the waiting room; someone will come to let him know if there is any news.

* * *

He moved towards the waiting room, and sure enough, Chin was sitting there, he stood up, approaching Steve. "Commander McGarrett, I'm here to take your statement regarding the injuries Daniel Williams sustained. When I arrived at your residence, you informed me that Mr. Williams had accidentally injured himself with his own weapon a couple of days ago?"

Steve raised his eyebrows, taking a threatening step towards Chin. "First of all, _Officer Kelly_ , he's _Detective_ Williams…"

Chin raised his hand. "Unfortunately, Commander, Mister Williams presented his resignation to HPD two weeks ago, claiming that he had some personal issues that prevented him from performing adequately as a detective…"

Steve frowned. "He quit?" He looked accusingly at Chin. "How could you let him do that?"

Chin glared at him, muttering softly. "I didn't _let him_ do anything! Correct me if I'm wrong, but there are not many people capable of making Danny Williams change his mind, and I'm certainly not one of them!"

Steve closed his eyes, nodding. Chin took a step back, looking around and continuing as if nothing had happened. "As I was saying Commander, was all of this an unfortunate accident or should we file a report for a formal investigation?"

Steve glared at him, muttering under his breath. "You can't expect me to say that Danny accidentally shot himself!"

Chin raised his eyebrows, trying to convey a message. "Well, if we are talking about an accident, with Mr. Williams' own registered gun, then there would be no need for further police investigation… Of course we would need Mr. Williams' statement as well, once he is able to provide it…"

Steve raised his eyes to the ceiling, sighing. "He's going to kill me…" He looked back at Chin. "Yes officer, he claimed that he was cleaning his own registered weapon and it accidentally went off… He didn't think it was anything serious, so he refrained from get it seen by a doctor until he realized it was not healing properly."

Chin shook his head sadly. "Well, I have to get back to the precinct; I'll come back once Mr. Williams is in shape to give his statement. Would you like me to inform his family?"

It was Steve's turn to shake his head. "No… They're not…, I mean, I'll take care of it…"

Chin looked concerned, but didn't force the subject. "Alright, I'll see you later."

* * *

It was over an hour later that a doctor finally came to speak to Steve. "Mr. McGarrett? We have stabilized Mr. Williams, our biggest concern is the infection on his arm, he also has two broken ribs, we are monitoring his respiration, but so far he has not shown signs of internal injuries. He is also suffering from a mild concussion, but his scans are clean, so it shouldn't present any complications. He was awake briefly, but behaved erratically, we believe that it's a consequence of the high fever he's experiencing, but we won't know for sure until we have his condition under control. Right now we are moving him to the OR, in order to surgically clean his wound. We will put him on antibiotics to fight off the infection and we will be monitoring his evolution."

Steve nodded. "How long should the surgery take?"

"It should be a simple procedure. Two to three hours at most. You can move to the waiting room on the sixth floor, I will find you there as soon as we are finished."

Steve nodded, shaking the doctor's hand. "Thank you, doctor." He waited for the doctor to leave to search for his phone. He had some important business to attend to.

* * *

Danny felt like he was floating. If asked about it, he wouldn't say it was a nice kind of floating: there was pain, but there also was some kind of weird numbness; he felt hot all over, but he knew he was shivering; He was lying on something soft, a hospital bed, he figured, and there was people moving around him, but he didn't have the energy to force his eyes open.

He knew that every once in a while he had managed to shift his head around, moved his legs or tried to free his right arm from whatever that had it trapped. He also realized that every time he moved there were soft voices whispering in his ear, a tender hand touching his forehead, but it was all white noise to him. He couldn't make sense of what the voices were saying, he didn't recognize the hands that touched him, trying to provide comfort. Once again he gave up and let himself float away.

Some time later he felt himself coming back, but something was wrong. There were hands on him; they were hurting him, holding him down. He tried to fight them, but other than the weak thrashing of his head and the soft whimpers coming from his mouth, there was not much else he could do.

After a while, the pain stopped and they let him be. In spite of the fatigue that plagued him, the pain and discomfort just wouldn't let him go back to sleep. He moved his head weakly, or at least he thought he did, but suddenly there were soft fingers wrapping around his left hand. He knew that it took more effort than it should, but somehow he managed to pry his eyelids open.

It turned out that the soft fingers were connected to a blurry figure with dark hair and sweet voice. The figure turned away to speak to someone else in the room. "Steve! He's awake!" Danny knew that it was important to get the attention of the figure. She couldn't leave, he needed her! He tried to squeeze her hand, but his fingers were not cooperating, so he tried talking to her next. "'chel… Rachel?"

That got her attention; she turned to look at him, getting closer."Danny? Danny! Shh… calm down… you're alright…"

He shook his head weakly. "No, Rachel, please don't leave! 'm sorry… so sorry…"

"Danny! Danny… Shh… It's alright… everything is fine…"

Danny would not calm down. He had done something wrong, he couldn't quite remember what, but he needed her to forgive him, he needed her to stay here with him. He started breathing as if he'd ran a marathon, every word more difficult than the last one. "NO! Rachel… please, I'm sorry, please… need you… need Gracie… don't go…"

She came closer, caressing his burning forehead, her voice a broken whisper. "Shh… it's alright… I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

That seemed to calm him down, he muttered a final "'love you" and with a sigh his eyes finally closed on their own.

* * *

Kono leaned forward to place a soft kiss on Danny's burning forehead, tenderly left his hand on top of the covers and looked guiltily at Steve. She couldn't stop her tears from spilling over and on the next moment Steve was standing next to her, wrapping her in a comforting embrace. "It's alright Kiddo, you did good, you did good." He said, kissing the crown of her head.

* * *

The next time Danny woke up, his sight was a little less blurry, and his head seemed clearer, but the pain and exhaustion were the same. He looked around his room, noticing a familiar figure sitting next to his bed. "It's just my luck that I get the ugliest nurse in the hospital." He said, with a small smile.

Steve looked up to find Danny awake. He smiled, coming closer. "Hey, it could have been worse, Kamekoma was asking about you…" He turned serious. "How are you feeling, Danny?"

Danny shrugged, or tried to at least. "Been better I guess… How bad is it?"

Steve sighed. "The doctor says that they managed to clear up the infection from the wound, but they've been having trouble with the fever…"

Danny nodded tiredly. "Well, that explains it. How long was I out?"

Steve checked his watch. "Almost a day since you came out of surgery."

Danny studied Steve for a moment. "Hey, you should go home, you look like crap…"

Steve shook his head, smiling. "Don't worry about it, brah. Not going anywhere until you can't leave too."

Danny shook his head too. "Stubborn fool…"

Steve grinned. "It must be contagious."

Danny rolled his eyes. Steve noticed that his eyes kept looking around the room, looking for something, or rather someone. He cleared his throat. "I thought… I think I saw Rachel here before… She's not really here; I dreamed that, didn't I?"

Steve's face fell, not sure how to reply, finally he settled for taking Danny's free hand, shaking his head. "I'm sorry Danny."

Danny squeezed Steve's hand softly. "t'salright… It's probably better this way. I'm just really tired." His eyes started closing, but he forced them open again. "Steve! Steve, listen… If you… Just, if you ever see Gracie…"

Steve started shaking his head frantically. "No Danny! Stop right there! You're just feeling like crap right now, but this is not your deathbed, you hear me!"

Danny was breathing heavily. "Please Steve! Just, if you see her, tell her Danno loves her… don't let her forget it…"

Steve shook his head sadly. "Danny, you know I would, but I need you to promise that you'll fight this… she needs to hear it from you first…"

Danny nodded softly. "Alright… I'll try… I'm just… tired…"

Steve smiled. "Then get some rest… I'll be right here…"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Great, your aneurism face will be the first thing I'll see when I wake up…" He finally closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

* * *

Steve stayed there, looking after his sleeping friend. His phone suddenly started vibrating in his pocket. He took it out, leaving Danny's room to talk more freely. "McGarrett… What do you mean you can't deliver the message! Ok, listen to me very carefully. I don't care if you have to kick down the door, rappel down the fire escape or whatever you have to do but you will deliver that message tonight! Are we clear? Alright, call me when you're done…" He disconnected the call. With a deep breath he sat down on a chair in the hallway, hoping that there was a way to fix this whole mess…

* * *

TBC...


	3. Chapter 3

Danny's world consisted of darkness, buzzing pain and voices. It was really starting to annoy him, the nightmares, the voices, the touches. Everything was confusing, blending together. He couldn't tell nightmares from reality and he lacked the energy to finally wake up.

He kept hearing voices, some of them calling to him, some talking about him. He heard Steve, talking about a high fever, and someone unknown saying they were doing everything they could. Steve would sometimes say things that usually annoyed him, just to see if Danny would wake and say something back. He heard Kono, asking someone to get better, saying that they needed him. There was also Chin sometimes, not saying much, but taking his hand or squeezing his good shoulder, and asking him to get better soon. Sometimes he heard and even saw his parents, asking for explanations or placing blame on him. He even saw Wo Fat and the Governor once or twice, threatening him, or blaming him for not being there for Steve. And of course there were Grace and Rachel, sometimes blaming him for abandoning them, sometimes asking him, begging him to get well. He felt soft hands holding his own, and gentle arms circling about him, but in the end it was all a jumbled mix of voices and touches.

* * *

After some time of this, Danny had truly had enough. Unconsciously, he knew that there were only two ways out of this dark, confusing void: He either gave up altogether or he fought to get better, to wake up and fight whatever it was that was keeping him trapped in this dark mess of voices and touches. Danny Williams was nothing if not stubborn, and giving up was something he was incapable of doing, so he started fighting. He fought the constant pain and exhaustion, he fought the heat and cold that sometimes made his body shiver, and he finally fought the weight on his eyelids, which seemed determined to keep him away from the world around him.

Just opening his eyes and getting a not so blurry view of his room felt like a victory to Danny. He looked around and saw in a corner of the room to his right, the slumped figure of Steve. He was curled up on an uncomfortable looking chair, snoring softly, but other than the weird angle of his neck, he looked relatively comfortable.

He sighed, relieved for the fact that it seemed like he wasn't feeling as crappy as he remembered feeling before. He looked around his room, pleased by the fact that it seemed he was getting better, and maybe there would be a nice ending for this whole mess after all… That was until his eyes settled on the left side of his room. Upon seeing what was there, he turned panicked eyes towards his partner, trying to catch his attention without catching the attention of the whole hospital. "Steve? Steve! I need some help man!" He said in a harsh whisper.

Steve blinked sleepily a couple of times, jumping from his seat when he saw that Danny was awake. "Danny! How are you feeling?" He said, with a smile on his face.

Danny started to shake his head as frantically as his weak body allowed him at the moment. "Steve, something's wrong!"

Steve looked Danny from head to toe, checking if anything looked amiss. He picked up the control to call the nurse, looking at Danny's face. "Danny, calm down. Does anything hurt? Tell me what's the matter…"

Danny was starting to breathe heavily, stealing quick glances to the opposite side of the room. "Steve! I'm seeing… I mean… Rachel and Grace are here!" He whispered, looking at the woman sleeping on the chair next to his bed and at the little girl lying next to him.

Steve looked confused, not sure how to answer to his distressed friend. "Danny, I'm not sure I understand…"

He was interrupted by the increasingly panicked Danny. "Steven, I'm trying to tell you that I'm seeing Rachel sitting in that chair, and Grace is lying next to me, I can even feel her little arm wrapped around my freaking waist!"

Steve raised his eyebrows, even more confused by Danny's behavior. "I don't understand, man. Do you want them to leave?"

Danny shook his head again, tears gathering in his eyes. "No! You said… You said before that I had dreamed that! You said that it was the fever! My head feels better now, but I keep seeing them! Something's wrong man! Please! You have to help me here…"

Steve shook his head, tenderly taking his friend's face, stopping his frantic movement. "Danny, listen to me. They are real, they are really here. I swear to you that they're not an illusion, fantasy or whatever you think they are… They are really here…" He said, nodding in their direction.

Danny looked down at Grace, sleeping peacefully next to him and turned confused eyes to Steve. "But… How? I mean… What?"

Steve's explanation was cut short by an arm tightening around Danny's waist, and a sleepy voice calling a well loved name. "Danno?"

Danny turned to look at his daughter's face, a tear finally spilling. He replied in a choked whisper. "Hey monkey…"

Grace smiled happily, tightening her embrace even more. "Daddy! You're awake! Mommy said that you were not feeling well before, are you feeling better now?"

Danny used his free hand to hold his daughter close. "I have the prettiest girl in the world hugging me! I've never been better, monkey!"

Grace scooted up until she could lean on her dad's shoulder. She put her hand on Danny's cheek, caressing him softly and catching the few tears that had escaped his eyes. "Buy you're crying… Are you sad?" She asked, concerned.

Danny shook his head softly. He wished his right hand was free of all the bandages and sling keeping it immobile, so he could hold his daughter's hand, but settled on squeezing her softly with his free arm. "I'm just very, very happy to see you here, monkey. I missed you so much."

Grace kept caressing her daddy's face. "We missed you a lot too! Mommy was very sad while we were in Jersey… But now she doesn't have to be sad again!" She turned to look at her sleeping mom, yelling. "Mommy! Danno is awake!"

Danny cringed, wincing as the loud sound coming from his beautiful daughter's mouth sent a stab of pain through his head. It took him a couple of seconds to open his eyes again, and when he did, he found Rachel standing next to his bed, looking concerned. "Danny! Are you alright?"

He lifted his hand to take hers, smiling. "I'm fine… How come you're here? I mean…"

She smiled, looking at Steve, who was back at the chair at the corner of the room looking far too pleased with himself. "Steven managed to deliver a message, and I gave him a call. He said that you were injured and that needed me to come back. And so here we are."

Danny looked at Steve, raising his eyebrows. "So Super SEAL just _asks_ you to come back and you're on the next plane to Hawaii?"

Rachel chuckled. "I'm not sure if you've seen this side of your partner, Danny, but he can be very persistent and very convincing."

Danny started blinking tiredly, looking briefly at Steve. " Never thought I'd say this, but thank you for being a pain in the ass, man…" He gently squeezed Rachel's hand.

Steve shrugged, still wearing his pleased smile. "It was my pleasure!"

Danny chuckled, trying to keep his eyes open, but Rachel noticed that he was getting tired. "Danny, you just woke up. We should let you rest…"

Danny shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I've been sleeping for… however long I've been here… Don't really want to sleep anymore."

Grace, who had just jumped down from Danny's bed, gave him one of her puppy eyed looks. "When I had the flu Mommy said that I had to have lots of rest so I could feel better soon… She said you had something like the flu too, so maybe you should rest too? I want you to get better soon…"

Danny sighed, incapable of disagreeing with his monkey. "Alright, I will get some rest. But mommy looks tired too, so why don't you take her…" He looked at Rachel "Where are you staying anyway?"

Rachel smiled. "Steve was kind enough to let us sleep at his place. He said something about an infestation at your apartment?"

Danny glared at Steve. "Hey! It was just a little messy!"

Steve rolled his eyes. "It's still not big enough for Rachel and Grace to be comfortable, so I asked them if they would like to stay at my place, where there's plenty of room."

Danny nodded. "Yeah, you're right, thanks man. Listen, could you take them? And you could take the opportunity to finally sleep in a real bed…"

Steve shook his head. "I'll drop them off, but I can come back…"

Danny cut him off. "You've been sleeping here every night… Just go home, all of you, get some sleep. I'll still be here when you come back…"

Steve finally agreed. "Alright. Have the nurses call me if you need anything, ok?"

Danny nodded, rolling his eyes. "Yes mom."

Grace giggled, coming closer to Danny to give him a gentle hug. "Goodnight Danno. Love you."

He hugged her back. "Goodnight monkey, Love you too." He looked up to Rachel.

She leaned forward, gently kissing him on the lips. "Love you too, Danno… Get some rest, ok?"

Danny sighed happily, nodding his head. "Whatever you say, luv."

When they finally left, Danny enjoyed a moment of giddiness before his eyes finally closed and he went back to sleep.

* * *

TBC...

* * *


	4. Chapter 4

The next time Danny awoke was to the sound of giggling. It was not a strange sound; especially since it was Grace's giggles that he was hearing. It was not often that this sound was accompanied by Kono's chuckles and Steve's annoyed huffs, so Danny remained still, trying to figure out what were they doing without catching their attention.

Their conversation didn't really help him to figure out what was going on: "No, Uncle Steve! You have to cut there and there, and make it fall there…"

"But… Shi- I mean… _Darn_! I can't do this Gracie…" Danny would have laughed at Steve's attempt to not curse in front of Gracie if he wasn't pretending to be asleep, but Kono laughed outright.

"No! Don't shake it like that! It's going to go down anyway!" There was laughter in Grace's voice.

Steve sighed, giving up. "I'm sorry Gracie, I can't do it!"

Gracie was silent for a moment. "Maybe you have goofy thumbs too, like my Danno?"

That got a reaction from Danny. "Gracie, you're not supposed to tell other people about my goofy thumbs!" He opened his eyes, finally seeing them sitting on some chairs near the foot of his bed.

Gracie jumped from her seat, moving to Danny's side and giving him a gentle hug. She whispered something on his ear. "Danno, I think Steve already knew about your Goofy thumbs…" She moved away, looking worried.

Danny smiled, taking Grace's hand. "Don't worry monkey, they're family. I'm sure they'll keep our secret safe…"

Grace looked back to Steve and Kono, giving them her puppy dog eyed look. "Will you keep Danno's secret?"

They both nodded, trying not to smirk. "We promise Gracie." Steve drew a cross across his heart, for emphasis.

Danny chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Well thank you…" It took him this long to notice it - Hey, he was just recovering from a nasty infection, he was allowed to be a bit distracted - But there was someone missing from the room. He turned to Steve and Kono to ask about it. "Hey… Where's Rachel?"

Steve and Kono looked at each other nervously. Finally Kono replied. "She was not feeling very well last night, so she stopped by to get checked out by a doctor. She should be back soon…"

Danny tried to sit up, propping himself on his good arm. "What do you mean she wasn't feeling very well?"

Steve was at his side in an instant, pushing him down with too little effort for Danny's taste. "Calm down." He said, glancing at Gracie's worried face. "She just spent most of the night doing something you have not done since May 18, 1996."

Gracie looked up. "I think there's something wrong with her tummy. All the time we were in Jersey she kept holding her tummy, and in the mornings she always had to run to the bathroom." She leaned forward to whisper in Danny's ear again. "I think she puked sometimes…"

It dawned on Danny that Gracie probably still didn't know anything about the baby. Obviously, that was a conversation that the three of them should have together, and they had not been together since… Damn. He started massaging his forehead, looking at his worried daughter. "I'm sure Mommy is ok, Monkey…"

The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of said Mommy. Grace ran up to her and hugged her tightly. "Mommy! Is your tummy feeling better?"

Rachel smiled at her daughter, tenderly patting her head. She looked nervously at Danny, nodding her head. "Everything is fine, sweetheart. The doctor said that it was probably all the traveling and the stress that upset my stomach a bit." She moved towards Danny's bed, taking his hand and seating next to him. "How are you feeling?"

Danny shook his head, not happy with her answer. "I'm fine, fever's probably gone and everything." He squeezed her hand, drawing her closer to his bed. "Are you sure that everything is fine?"

Rachel noticed that neither Steve nor Kono exactly agreed with Danny's affirmation that he was fine, but she also knew that he wouldn't pay attention to his own needs until he had made sure that everyone he cared about was alright first, so she decided to calm his anxiety. She squeezed his hand gently, looking straight to his eyes. "Everything is perfect, Danny. Perfect! The doctor said that I should try to get more rest and avoid stressful situations, but everything is alright."

Danny looked at her from head to toe. "Are you sure? Maybe you should go home, get some rest. You look a bit pale…"

Rachel started shaking her head. "Danny, it's alright. I'm not tired. If I start to feel poorly, I'll leave, alright?"

Danny was nothing if not stubborn. "But you were not feeling alright last night! You look pale and Steve said that you didn't sleep well… You should worry more about yourself."

Her patience was running thin these days, and she'd had enough. "And I suppose you're an authority in that regard, am I right?" She snapped.

The silence that reigned in the room was only interrupted by Steve and Kono scrambling to their feet and each taking one of Gracie's hands each. They both started talking at the same time. "Hey Gracie, why don't we go for a walk?" "Gracie! Would you like some ice cream?"

Grace looked from one to the other, and then at her angry looking parents. "Mommy, can I go with Uncle Steve and Kono for some ice cream and a walk?"

Rachel took smoldering eyes away from Danny for a minute, giving her daughter a sweet smile. "Of course you can, sweetheart." She turned her eyes to Steve. "Just nothing too chocolatey, or we won't get any sleep tonight…"

Steve nodded, looking apologetically at Danny as the three of them bolted from the room.

* * *

Danny sighed, brushing his free hand down his face. "Listen Rachel, I'm sorry about all of this. I didn't mean to scare you like that…"

Rachel shook her head, crossing her arms around her chest. "Of course you didn't! You never mean to scare me like that, and yet this keeps happening!"

Danny looked up to the ceiling, trying not to raise his voice too much. "What do you want me to do about it? This is my job!"

Rachel shook her head angrily. "No, getting shot while trying to clean up the name of your partners was certainly not in your job description! Which reminds me, where you ever going to tell me that Kono and Steve were in prison, or that you were working by yourself to release them?"

Danny raised his eyebrows. "What are you talking about? You wouldn't even answer my calls!"

Rachel glared at him. "I'm not talking about that! You let me leave thinking that nothing was wrong over here! When you didn't appear at the airport I thought you didn't want anything to do with me or the baby! Did you really expect me to listen to your apologies then?"

Danny started waving his arm around in anger. "I was hoping you would let me explain! I was hoping you'd give me one fucking chance!"

Rachel looked surprised. "A chance you say? I spent _all of our marriage_ giving you one chance after another!"

Danny looked hurt. "Well, if living with me is such a burden, then maybe you should just leave." He growled, pointing towards the door.

Rachel looked hurt too. "Maybe I should."

Danny glared. "Then go!"

Rachel stood up, walking towards the door. "I will."

Danny was still glaring. "Fine…"

Rachel grabbed the door handle, roughly pulling it open. "FINE!"

Just as she opened the door, she ran into a nurse who was hurrying into the room to check what all the yelling was about. Rachel was startled, and while trying to jump backwards, she tripped and fell.

That's when all hell broke loose…

* * *

Grace, Kono and Steve were coming back from getting some ice cream from the cafeteria. Just as the elevator doors opened at Danny's floor, they heard lots of yelling, and a couple of nurses running. Steve stopped Grace and Kono from leaving the elevator."Listen kiddo, we got ourselves some delicious ice cream, but we didn't bring anything for your mom. What do you say you go back downstairs and get her something she'd like?"

Grace looked thoughtful for a few seconds, and then started pulling Kono back in the elevator. "She can't have ice cream, because of her tummy, but she can have tea!" She said, apparently oblivious to the ruckus in the hallway.

Kono looked concerned, but agreed that it was a better idea to take Grace away from here for a while. "Alright, some tea for your mom then…" And the elevator doors were closed again.

Steve moved quickly towards Danny's room. Guessing correctly that that's where all of the yelling was coming from. He never expected to find the scene that met him when he opened the door.

* * *

Rachel was sitting on the floor, trying to calm a distraught Danny. Danny was kneeling on the floor, holding Rachel by her shoulder, asking her if she was alright, all of this while trying to disentangle himself from two nurses that were trying to either convince him to go back to bed or drag him by force. And all of them were yelling at the same time.

After about a minute of trying to make sense of the situation, Steve had enough. "ALRIGHT, QUIET EVERYONE!"

The four occupants of the room went instantly silent, and four pairs of nervous looking eyes settled on him. Steve decided to choose his battles wisely, so he started with the English woman sitting on the floor. "Rachel, are you alright?"

Danny waved around his hand in preparation to start talking but Steve cut him off pointing a finger at him. "Danny, be quiet!" He turned to Rachel. "Rachel?"

Rachel was looking from Steve to Danny, who wouldn't take his good hand from her shoulder. "I'm alright. The nurse just startled me and I tripped on my own two feet!"

Danny didn't look very convinced. "Are you sure?" He asked, moving his hand from her shoulder to her cheek.

Rachel nodded. "Maybe I'm a bit embarrassed?"

Danny chuckled, drawing her close with his good arm. He leaned his head on her shoulder with a shuddering breath.

Rachel held him close, whispering in his ear. "That was not the best way to go about that conversation was it?"

Danny chuckled. "I'd say, nope, it wasn't."

They were interrupted by Steve clearing his throat. "Hey Danny, what do you say if we let these two nice ladies help you back to bed?"

Danny didn't move from his position. "Just give me a couple of minutes, Steve."

Steve leaned against the door, ignoring the annoyed looks from the nurses. Just as he was about to call out to his friend that his time was up, a little, giggling voice beat him to it. "Danno! Your bootie is showing!"

That really caused a reaction. Danny let go of Rachel, and tried to stand, but if it weren't for Steve's assistance, he would have ended up face down on the floor. Steve helped him up, finally moving him towards the bed. "Easy… So you forgot you were wearing a hospital gown. It's not a big deal… I'll even let you see my butt if you ever feel like it…"

Grace giggled again, and when Danny opened his eyes again to glare at Steve, he noticed that either the nurses or Kono had helped Rachel up from the floor. She came closer to the bed, taking Danny's hand while the other nurse was cleaning up his arm where he ripped the IV and finding a place where to stick in a new one. "I'm going to go home, maybe you're right, and I need some rest…"

Danny squeezed her hand, looking half asleep himself. "Call me if you need anything…"

Steve interrupted him, again. "Err… nope, call _me_ if you need anything…"

Who was interrupted by Kono. "Hey… I'm driving them home and staying there with them for the afternoon… They won't need anything; I'll make sure of it…"

Danny smiled tiredly at Kono… "Thanks, kiddo…"

Kono smiled. "Anything for my favorite Haoles…"

Rachel brushed some hair from Danny's forehead, giving him a gentle kiss. "I love you, you know that?"

Danny smiled. "I love you too… Now go and get some rest…"

Rachel chuckled. "Yes mom" she said, winking at him before going out the door.

* * *

A couple of days later Danny was well on his way to recovery. His fever was gone, his injuries were healing nicely, and he was allowed to move more around the room. Not that it had stopped him before.

This was probably why it was a surprise for Rachel to arrive to Danny's room and find him sitting on his bed and looking sadly out the window. He was so distracted that he only realized she was in the room when she sat down next to him, taking his hand. He looked at her, smiling slightly. "Hey, beautiful."

Rachel smiled. "Hey yourself. Are you alright?"

Danny truly smiled now. "You keep asking me that question! For your information, and peace of mind, my annoying doctor just left, and he gave me the all clear to finally leave this hellhole tomorrow. He even changed the bandages on my arm, so I don't resemble a mummy anymore." He said, gently lifting his injured arm.

Rachel squeezed his uninjured hand. "That's great news… So, what is the matter?"

Danny raised his eyebrows. "What is the matter? Nothing! Other than the fact that I'll have to spend another night on this uncomfortable piece of hardwood they dare to call bed…"

Rachel shook her head. "Danny? You know I know you better than that…"

Danny sighed, leaning back on his pillows and looking at the ceiling. "McGarrett stopped by this morning. He said that we could all crash at his place until I was feeling better or until we figured out what to do…"

Rachel raised her eyebrows. "Figured out what to do?"

Danny nodded, still not looking at her. "Once we figure out if we want to go back to Jersey or stay here, or whatever else we want to do…"

Rachel didn't seem to understand the problem yet. "That's very kind of Steve…"

Danny took his hand away from Rachel's to massage his forehead. "The thing is… I mean… I don't know how much you already know, but… When Steve and Kono were arrested, and Five-0 was shut down, I went back to HPD… They had me a couple of days doing paperwork. They had already sent them to a state prison and they wouldn't let me near their case files… They shut me down from all sides, so I did the only thing I thought would allow me to help them… I quit my job."

He had his eyes closed by now, not trusting himself to look in Rachel's direction, afraid of what he would see. He was comforted by the hand tenderly squeezing his arm, so he went on. "The thing is, I wasn't really thinking at the time. By this time I thought that you were done with me, so my only focus was to get them out of jail… never thought about what I'd do afterwards."

"Now I don't have a job, I lost my badge, I don't think my old lieutenant in Jersey would hire me back without one and I have two-soon to be three- mouths to feed, and not a dime in my pockets." He took another deep breath and forced himself to look in Rachel's direction. What he found surprised him.

Rachel didn't look angry or disappointed, and she was still holding his arm. She leaned against his shoulder and Danny automatically lifted his arm to draw her closer.

She took a deep breath and started talking. "Steven told me that you had quit your job once he and Kono were arrested, he explained that you took great risks to help them and that you thought the situation hopeless enough that you never really thought of the outcome for yourself. I can't tell you how sorry I am that you had to go through all of that alone…" Danny started shaking his head and was going to start arguing, but Rachel put her finger on his mouth shushing him. "I wish things would have gone differently, but while I don't like it, I think I understand your reasons… The thing is, even though you may not have a job right now and no dimes in your pockets…"

She lifted the covers, looking under them to Danny's current attire. "You do realize that that _thing_ does not have any pockets anyway, right?" That got a chuckle out of Danny. She lowered the covers and continued. "As I was saying, even though you think we are very close to become homeless, you are forgetting that we still have the house in Newark…"

She was interrupted by Danny. "No, we don't."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Yes, we do. "

Danny shook his head. "No, we don't! My mom told me last year that she saw a family moving into our house…"

Rachel lifted her head from Danny's shoulder to catch his eyes. "It's called _renting the house_ , Danny…"

Danny lifted his eyebrows. "So you didn't sell the house?"

She shook her head. "No I didn't."

Danny looked confused. "Why not?"

Rachel shrugged. "At that time I didn't really need the money. And the thought of selling the house always made me sad, so instead I decided to put it up for Rent and decide later whether I wanted to sell it or not…"

Danny seemed thoughtful for a minute and Rachel took the chance to keep talking. "Alright, so we still have the house, and I have some savings…"

Danny interrupted her again. "No no no no no… We're not spending your money…"

Rachel sat up. "My money? So the money you make should be ours, but the money I have saved is mine?"

Danny reached out, taking her hand. "No, it's not that… It's… well… How much money are we talking about then?"

Rachel thought about it for a moment. "I'd say it's enough for us to survive for a couple of months, maybe a year?" She said smugly.

Danny lifted his eyebrows. "So you have _Money_?" He smirked.

She chuckled. "I'm only saying that we have enough to survive until you decide what you want to do…"

This conversation was going so different from anything he was expecting that everything was beyond confusing. "Until I decide…?"

She nodded. "Yes, until _you_ decide. You see… At some point in your latest adventure I realized that ever since we got married, you've always been following _me_."

Danny still didn't get it. "What do you mean?"

"Well, back in Jersey, we bought a house in a neighborhood _I_ chose. Then we started having troubles and _I_ asked you to leave and off you went. _I_ moved away to Hawaii, and of course you followed. And now that _I_ asked you to go back to Jersey with me, you were ready to leave a work you loved and friends you considered family to go back with me, because I said so!"

Rachel looked down at her lap, looking ashamed, but Danny lifted her chin. "I don't understand, love. Was I not supposed to follow?"

She shook her head. "No Danny, I think it's about time I started following _you_ …"

Danny looked even more confused. "Following me? Following me where?"

Rachel sighed, taking his hand. "Well, if you want to go back to Newark, then we will go back to Newark. If you want to stay here in Hawaii, we can stay here. If you want to go somewhere else, then we will follow you, wherever you want to go."

Danny looked surprised, and more than a little overwhelmed. "So… No pressure, right?"

She chuckled. "I told you, Danny. We're fine for a couple of months, or until you decide where you want to go…"

"What if I want to live in Timbuktu?" Danny tried to look innocent.

Rachel narrowed her eyes. "Do you even know where Timbuktu is?"

Danny pursed his lips. "Well… Nope, not really. But If I wanted to live there, you'd follow?"

Rachel thought for a minute. "If you're convinced that we'd be happy there… Then I probably would…"

He looked her in the eyes, and was surprised to see that she meant every word. "Well… I guess I have lots of thinking to do… I'll make some calls after I leave this prison, and we'll start from there… alright?"

Rachel nodded. "Take your time…"

Danny tugged her hand to get her to lie down next to him again. "come'ere… Let's take advantage of this uncomfortable bed for once…"

She lied down next to him, resting her head on his good shoulder, but started looking a bit scandalized at Danny's suggestion. "Danny… the doctor said you should not overexert yourself… Besides, someone could enter the room!"

Danny chuckled. "Love, I'm tired… Actually I seem to be tired all the time. Since you look a bit tired yourself, all I'm suggesting is for us to take advantage of this bed by taking a nap… I've no interest on making more babies with you right here and now, especially with a bunch of annoying nurses waiting outside my door for the worst possible moment to come in and start poking me…"

Rachel laughed. "Alright. I'd be delighted to take a nap with you, darling." She settled more comfortably next to Danny. "Sweet dreams…" She murmured before closing her eyes.

Danny found a comfortable position and started drifting off as well. His problems were not even close to being solved yet, but at least he was breathing a little easier now.

* * *

TBC...


	5. Chapter 5

Not even three days had passed since Danny was released from the Hospital and he was already starting to feel frustrated with his situation. Sure, he spent most of the first two days resting or playing with Grace, or resting some more, but now that he was finally starting to feel better, there was not much that he could do.

He was not supposed to wear a sling anymore, the only reminder of his injury and illness the bandage on his arm, the occasional twinges of pain and the exhaustion, which lessened every day. He had spent most of the morning at the beach, watching as Kono helped Grace to find balance on her pink surfing board. The Rookie was still suspended after her release from jail, so she spent most of her time at McGarrett's house, playing with Grace, talking to Rachel and keeping an eye on Danny. Steve had disappeared for the day, again, claiming he had some important business to attend. Since he hadn't come back bearing any injuries the day before, Danny didn't ask any questions.

The girls spent the afternoon enjoying the sun, while Danny was pacing Steve's living room, making one phone call after another, his shoulders slumped. "Yeah man, I understand. Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you."

He disconnected the call, taking a deep breath. Damn, he shouldn't be here, having mai tais and enjoying the sun with his family. He should be in Jersey, crawling on his hands and knees to convince his old Lt. that he could still work as a detective, even though he didn't have a badge anymore. Or asking his brothers in law to fix him up with a job… He could be a security guard in the bank Josh worked at; he would even consider working at Pete's bar! But he was not in Jersey, not even close to going there, because his doctor had "advised" him to rest for a whole week, and he wouldn't worry Rachel again by going off to Jersey in search for a job before the doctor said that he could, no matter how much he wanted to.

He knew that they could make do for a while with Rachel's savings, but they couldn't spend _months_ waiting for him to find a job. They couldn't spend _months_ living off McGarrett's charity. They couldn't spend _months_ waiting for him to find his "one true calling", while his daughter kept going to her private school and the baby kept growing in Rachel's belly.

All of a sudden, he felt like he was suffocating inside the house. He scribbled a quick note saying he was going for a walk and he almost jogged out of there, taking off without any fixed destination.

* * *

After walking no more than two or three blocks, he was exhausted. Frustrated with… Well with pretty much everything that was going on in his life right now, he leaned against a coconut tree, trying to catch his breath. Shit, he couldn't even take a walk around the block and he was supposed to find a job that allowed him to provide Grace and Rachel with all the nice things they had gotten used to. Hell, any job would do, but right now he was incapable of doing the simplest things like any normal person!

He suddenly felt the need to hit something, to smash his fist into something solid until his fists bled. Maybe then some of these feelings would go away.

He swung around, intending to smash his fist into the sturdy tree at his back, but before he could make contact, a strong hand wrapped around his wrist. He instinctively swung with his other fist, but where there was a head before, now there was only air, and somehow a pair of strong arms wrapped around him from behind, keeping him trapped.

He tried to kick or elbow the person holding him, but they wouldn't let go. Suddenly the voice yelling in his ear started to make sense. "Danny! Stop it, god damnit!"

Danny finally relaxed enough for Steve to let him go, leaning against the tree, glaring at him. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Steve crossed his arms around his chest, raising his eyebrows. "What am _I_ doing here? Apparently I'm here to stop you from crushing your knuckles against a tree! I'm more interested in knowing what _you_ are doing here, and what did the tree do to deserve such treatment!"

Danny waved his left hand around angrily. "Can't a man take a walk around the block in peace without having a super SEAL tailing his ass?" He kept his right arm close to his chest, since it seemed not to agree so much with the idea of taking a swing at said Super SEAL.

Apparently the arm waving was contagious, because now Steve was doing it as well. "For your information, I was not tailing your ass!" He pointed to his truck, parked nearby. "I saw you walking down the street and thought I'd offer you a ride home…"

Danny pinched his forehead. "A ride home? Well, you are forgetting that I currently don't have a home, so I couldn't very well ask for a ride home, could I?"

Steve opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, trying to come up with something to say to that. But Danny cut him off with a sigh. "Listen, I'm sorry man. It's just been a crappy day, and I can't seem to find a way out of the hole I dug myself into. It's not your fault and I shouldn't have taken out on you or on this huge coconut tree." He said, pointing to the tree behind him. He started moving towards Steve's truck. "Let's just get back to your place, I'll take yet another nap and maybe I'll wake up in a better mood…"

He was stopped again by Steve's arm wrapping around his wrist. "Wait Danny… Why don't we sit down for a while? I'm sure your fourth nap can wait a while longer." He directed them towards a bench that overlooked the beach, nearby.

* * *

They sat down, Danny looking at the beach and Steve looking at Danny. Steve finally started talking, since his companion seemed to have gone silent. "So, what's this about you getting yourself out of a hole you dug?"

Danny lowered his eyes, looking at the floor. "It's nothing… I just… Today I finally got a hold of my old Lieutenant in Jersey PD. I called him to check if he would take me back as a detective… Turns out that even if I still had my badge- which I don't- they're having mayor budget problems, so they're not hiring anyone at the moment. He said that he'd ask a friend who's a PI, who may need someone to help him, but he didn't sound very hopeful either… If I still had my badge I could apply for a transfer somewhere, but I don't. So, all I have left is to see if I can start calling some favors with my family… See if anyone would like to hire an ex cop with no expertise or working experience in any other areas…" He turned to look at Steve and was surprised to find him smirking. He glared at him, moving to stand. "I'm glad you find my misery funny…"

Steve kept his smile, shaking his head. "Sorry man, it's just that I never saw you as the type to wallow…"

Danny raised his eyebrows. "Wallow? Do you think I'm wallowing? Do you think my troubles are so petty, that I try to make them seem bigger so I can enjoy the misery of feeling sorry for myself? Do you think that I enjoy-"

He was cut off by Steve. "Hey! I don't think that your troubles are petty or small, but you're jumping to conclusions too quickly… You haven't given yourself time to heal properly and you're already worrying about getting a job! "

Danny sighed, kneading his forehead. "I'm supposed to feed and care for Grace and Rachel; I'm supposed to care for the baby too! Who, by the way, won't be being born in your house or at the beach! He or she will need a hospital, nurses, a crib, clothes and diapers, not to forget a roof over his or her head! And lots of more things that I won't be able to afford unless I have a job! So excuse me if the fact that I don't have a job right now and that I don't foresee getting a good one anytime soon stresses me out a bit!"

Steve was still smirking. "Alright, tell me, how long exactly have you been job hunting?"

Danny slouched in his seat, looking at the beach. He checked his watch. "'bout two hours."

Steve nodded. "Yeah, you're right, if you can't get a job after two whole hours, then your chances of ever getting a job are pretty slim." He shook his head sadly.

Danny snorted. "Yeah, I know I'm exaggerating, and I know that I shouldn't lose it over something like this, but I'm a cop, and a good one! And I gave it all up without really thinking on the consequences…" He pointed a finger at Steve, while still looking at the beach. "Don't you dare start blaming yourself, McGarrett, or I'll kick your ass all the way to the mainland!" Steve shut his mouth. "As I was saying," Danny continued, "being a cop is all I've ever known how to do, and I'm having a little trouble getting used to the idea of having to find something else to do with my life…" he finished, with a deep breath.

Steve studied him for a few moments. "Would you still want to go back to Jersey even if you can't find a job at Jersey PD?"

Danny shook his head. "I don't know. I mean… Rachel wanted to leave, because Stan still lives here, but I know she likes it here. And I'd hate to make Gracie pick up everything and move for the second time in less than a year, but I don't see myself selling shave ice with Kamekona or working at the gift shop Chin used to work in… I just don't know what to do…"

Steve patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry brah. It'll come to you…"

Danny nodded. "I hope it does soon…" He turned his attention to Steve. "And what have you been up to on your free time?"

Steve raised his eyebrows, trying and failing to look innocent. "What have I been up to?..."

Danny nodded. "Yup, you were gone yesterday morning when I woke up. Off to an _important meeting_ , Kono said, and you returned around 8 pm wearing your aneurism face. You were not injured or running off with guns blazing, so I left you in peace, but then today I wake up and you've disappeared again. So I wanna know what you have been up to…"

Steve shrugged, not looking at Danny's face. "I've been meeting with the Governor."

Danny sat up, raising his eyebrows. "You've been meeting with Page? And what does he want?"

Steve was still looking down. "He wants the Five-0 taskforce back. He asked me to come back as the leader. He said that I can get together a taskforce, but the rules have changed."

Danny chuckled. "Five-0 rules were that there were no rules…"

Steve smiled. "Yeah, but if the task force starts working again, it'll have to be by the book. We'll have to follow proper procedure, respect the suspects rights, and all of that…"

Danny shook his head. "It'll be a nightmare for you…"

Steve grinned. "Yeah… On the other hand, Page said that I get to pick my team."

Danny smiled. "Well, that's good…"

Steve nodded. "Kono already agreed to come back, just as soon as the charges are finally dropped. I'm trying to convince Chin too…" He finally turned to look at Danny. "I spoke to the governor about giving you back your badge… About bringing you back to Five-0, but… He said the Chief of Police wanted nothing to do with you… He said that He didn't wanna hear your name! What exactly did you do there, brah?"

Danny had the decency to blush. "Well, Chief Keahi was being unreasonable. He had me doing nothing but paperwork on old cases and he wouldn't let me work either your or Kono's cases. One day he caught me in a bad mood and I kind of... Threw the badge at his face and stormed out". The last phrase was muttered in a soft mumble.

Steve leaned closer to Danny. "Excuse me, you what?"

Danny started scratching his head nervously, this time speaking a bit louder. "I kind of threw my badge at his face and stormed out… I filed my resignation the following day…"

Steve shook his head, chuckling. "And you say I'm the crazy one?"

Danny started waving his arm around. "Hey! He was being unreasonable! And yes, maybe I was being a bit of a pain in the ass, but he knew I wouldn't have been acting like that if I didn't know you both were innocent! He cut me off from both investigations, what was I supposed to do?"

Steve started patting Danny's leg, to try to calm him down. "Yeah, yeah, alright, I get it… He doesn't want to see your face though…"

Danny shrugged. "Well, what's done it's done…"

Steve nodded. "Yeah…" They stayed in silence for a moment.

Steve was studying Danny. "If you could have your job back, would you stay in Hawaii?"

Danny leaned back, thinking. "If it meant going back to HPD… No, I don't think I'd stay… I was nothing but an annoying haole for those guys… If it was back to Five-0… I think I would stay in this pineapple infested hole for that…" He took a deep breath. "There's not much use on thinking about it anyway, is it?"

Steve was looking at him with a strange expression on his face. "Yeah… you're right…" He stood up from the bench. "Hey, what do you say we go back home? The girls could be starting to get worried…" He started moving towards the truck, but stopped suddenly and turned back to Danny. "Hey, before I forget, Chief Keahi said that if you ever do that again, he's going to pick up your badge and shove it where the sun don't shine…" He said, taking something from his pocket and slapping it on Danny's palm. Then, he turned and went back to his truck.

Danny stared dumbfounded at the object on his hand: A shiny badge with the number 7576, his badge. He looked at Steve's retreating form and scrambled to his feet to catch up with him. "McGarrett! Wait a fucking minute!"

Steve turned around, trying to look innocent. "What?"

Danny was breathing heavily, squeezing his badge like a lifeline. "What? How? I mean… What did you do?"

Steve, smirked, looking far too pleased with himself. "Well, I need a man to help us with all of the procedures that we are supposed to follow, so I went to talk to Chief Keahi and asked him if he could give you your badge back…"

Danny started shaking his head. "But… I quit…"

Steve put his hand on Danny's shoulder. "Well… it was a long conversation… He was maaaaad! He still is, actually. That's why I think we will be doing most of the booking in the next few weeks, _Danno_ …"

Danny was still shell-shocked; staring at his badge like it was a hallucination. "But… I… I mean…"

Steve shook Danny's shoulder to catch his attention. "Hey… I know that you need to discuss this with Rachel, ok? You guys can take your time and figure out what to do. I just wanted you to know that you have a place in Five-0 if you want it, but if you don't, at least now you have your badge, to do with it whatever you want. Ok? You just let me know when you decide…"

Danny nodded, and in the next move pulled Steve against him, holding him close in a hug. "Thank you man…" He whispered hoarsely

Steve thumped him on the back. "No, thank _you_ , brah, for being a stubborn bastard…"

Danny chuckled, looking happily at his badge. "My pleasure."

Steve got into his truck. "Alright, let's get back home before the girls start a search and rescue operation on your ass..."

Danny couldn't stop grinning. "Let's go home!"

* * *

The following day, Steve was determined to sleep late. He couldn't remember the last time he had had a decent night of sleep, what with being in jail and then watching Danny at the hospital, and then the meetings with the Governor and the Chief of police… So this morning Steve decided that nothing would make him get out of bed before noon. His guests knew their way around his home, so if they wanted breakfast (even lunch if he had any say on the matter), they could do it themselves…

A squealing eight year old girl bursting into his room and jumping repeatedly on his bed was not a scenario he had foreseen, so he was forced to wake up around 9 am to at least listen to what all the squealing and jumping was about.

"UNCLE STEVE! WE'RE STAYING IN HAWAII! WE'RE STAYING IN HAWAII!" Was all the explanation he received, and all the explanation needed for the little monster's happiness.

He focused bleary eyes on said little monster's parents, standing at his bedroom door, looking apologetic. "So… I take it you're staying in Hawaii?"

They nodded. "Yup, you need my expertise to follow proper police procedure. I couldn't in good conscience leave you alone in your time of need, could I?" Danny grinned.

Steve grinned too. "Of course you couldn't."

Grace stopped jumping on Steve's bed. "Mom! We have to celebrate! Can we have pancakes? Can we?"

Rachel smiled. "Of course we can, sweetheart. Come on, we have to get them started!" She turned to Steve. "Would you like to join us?"

Steve smiled. "I would love to, I'll be right down."

* * *

They were just finishing the last of the pancakes when someone knocked on the door. Steve went to check who it was and was surprised to find Chin in the doorway. "Hello brah."

Steve shook his hand. "Hey! Come on in! Everything alright?"

Chin nodded. "Yeah. I just talked to the Chief and he just signed my transfer back to Five-0…"

Steve clapped him on the back. "That's great news!"

Chin smiled. "Yeah, all I have to do is finish my last assignment and then I'm all yours…"

Steve raised his eyebrows. "And what is your last assignment?"

Chin sighed. "I have to take Danny's statement for his shooting. Is he in?"

Steve looked nervously back to his living room. "Errr… Yeah, come on in! Danny! Chin's here to talk to you!"

Danny came into the living room, greeting Chin warmly. "Hey man! How's it going?" He noticed that Steve had grabbed his keys and was going out the door. "Hey McGarret! Where are you going?"

Steve suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights. "I'm… I gotta go! I have a meeting!" And he was gone…

Danny and Chin sat down. "Listen Danny, since you were hospitalized, I'm supposed to take your statement regarding your injury…"

Danny nodded. "Yeah, sure, go ahead…"

* * *

Outside, Steve was just starting his truck when he heard his partner bellow. "MCGARRETT! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE! HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT I SHOT MYSELF!"

Steve stepped on the gas pedal and flew away from there. With some time, surely Danny would forgive him… A year or two that is…

* * *

The End…

**Author's Note:**

> If you're here, thanks for reading. This is my first Five-0 story, it's not betaed, and I hope I made the characters justice…


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